33 Key Stories to Find Out What’s Happening in the Finance World Today

1. U.S. Stock Market:

“The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite struggled to remain in record territory Tuesday as investors sifted through mostly upbeat earnings reports amid a drop in oil prices and paid attention to remarks from Federal Reserve speakers. The S&P 500 index SPX, -0.10% switched between slight gains and losses, and was last down 1 point at 2,398 with five of the 11 main sectors trading higher, as energy, real estate and materials stocks dragged, offsetting gains in the consumer discretionary and industrial sectors. The benchmark index set a fresh intraday record of 2,403.84 shortly after the open. The Nasdaq Composite Index COMP, +0.26% rose 17 points, or 0.3%, to 6,119, off its fresh intraday record of 6,133.00. The Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA, -0.13% which also switched between small gains and losses, was last down 30 points, or 0.1%, at 20,982, a little more than 130 points below its record close set in early March.”

(Market Watch)

“The S&P 500 and Nasdaq composite hit new records on Tuesday as earnings season neared its end. The Nasdaq rose 0.3 percent as Apple shares hit a new all-time high. The S&P traded flat as consumer discretionary led advancers and energy lagged. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 26 points, or 0.12 percent, to 20,984, with Chevron leading decliners and Nike outperforming. The S&P 500 slipped 1 point, or 0.07 percent, to 2,397, with energy leading seven sectors lower and consumer discretionary leading advancers. The Nasdaq gained 15 points, or 0.25 percent, to trade at 6,117.”

(CNBC)

“U.S. stock index futures rose on Tuesday as a favorable French election outcome and a robust first-quarter earnings season improved appetite for risk. Futures snapshot at 6:49 a.m. ET: Dow e-minis were up 26 points, or 0.12 percent, with 14,411 contracts changing hands. S&P 500 e-minis were up 1.5 points, or 0.06 percent, with 79,658 contracts traded. Nasdaq 100 e-minis were up 2.75 points, or 0.05 percent, on volume of 13,735 contracts.”

(Reuters)

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2. U.S. Bond Market:

“In early trading on Tuesday, the benchmark 10-year Treasury yield was up nearly 3 basis points at 2.403 percent, just below a five-year high of 2.405 percent set earlier in the session. The 30-year bond yield was up about 2 basis points at 3.033 percent after touching its highest level since March 31, according to Reuters’ data.”

(Reuters)

“Treasury yields edged up Tuesday to hover near a six week high as geopolitical concerns that had kept a lid on yields were lifted after anti-euro candidate Marine Le Pen was defeated in the French Presidential Election runoff. The Treasury yield for the 2-year note TMUBMUSD02Y, +0.31% rose 1.2 basis point to 1.347%. Bond prices move inversely to yields; one basis point is equal to one hundredth of a percentage point. The Treasury yield for the 10-year note TMUBMUSD10Y, +0.61% gained 1.1 basis point to 2.400%, while the 30-year bond, or the long bond,TMUBMUSD30Y, +0.26% added 1 basis point to reach 3.034%.”

(Market Watch)

“For the first time since mid-March, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has climbed above 2.4%. At 9:30 a.m. the benchmark yield was at 2.403%, continuing Monday’s rise in yields that seemed mainly to be about investors recalibrating their portfolios for a Federal Reserve that is not only likely to raise rates a few more times this year, but also start shrinking its balance sheet late in the year.”

(Barron’s)

3. FX Markets:

“The dollar strengthened against the Japanese yen, USDJPY, +0.79% buying ¥113.85, up from ¥113.26 late Monday in New York. Europe’s shared currency EURUSD, -0.2563% traded at $1.0888, down from $1.0924 late Monday in New York. The pound GBPUSD, -0.0695% moved lower, trading at $1.2916 from $1.2944.”

(Market Watch)

“The euro was on the retreat on Tuesday (9 May), falling below $1.09 for the first time in almost a week as the rally inspired by Emmanuel Macron’s success in the French presidential elections lost momentum. Aside from gaining against the euro, the dollar was indeed on the front foot against its main rivals, trading 0.69% and 0.59% higher against the yen and the Swiss franc respectively, at ¥114.04 and CHF1.0047. In Britain, meanwhile, the pound slid 0.10% against the dollar, trading at $1.2927, but gained 0.19% against the euro to exchange hands at €1.1866.”

(International Business Times)

4. Commodities:

“Gold futures traded lower on Tuesday as the U.S. dollar strengthened and as assets perceived as risky traded mostly higher, pointing to waning appetite for the yellow metal. June gold GCM7, -0.59% fell $3.30, or 0.4%, to $1,223.90 an ounce, after settling with a tiny gain on Monday. July silver SIN7, -0.63% meanwhile, was off 6 cents, or 0.3%, at $16.195 an ounce.”

(Market Watch)

“Oil prices fell on Tuesday, surrendering earlier gains, rattled by concern over slowing demand and the rise in U.S. crude output that has shaken investors’ faith in the ability of OPEC to rebalance the market. Brent crude futures LCOc1 were down 39 cents at $48.95 per barrel by 1400 GMT (10 a.m. ET), off an intraday high of $49.72. U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures CLc1 were down 32 cents at $46.11 per barrel, off the day’s high of $46.78.”

(Reuters)

“Crude oil prices were in modest decline before the start of U.S. trading. The price for Brent crude oil was down 0.3 percent about a half hour before the opening bell to $49.19 per barrel. West Texas Intermediate, the U.S. benchmark for the price of oil, was down 0.28 percent to $46.30 per barrel.”

(UPI.com)

5. Market Movers:

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. (NYSE:VRX) said it’s making progress selling assets and is bringing in more cash, helping cut debt and allowing it to boost its full-year forecast. The forecast increase is a welcome sign for investors amid declining sales, legal troubles and a still-high debt burden. The drugmaker’s stock gained as much as 19 percent Tuesday — the biggest intraday gain since November — and was up 12 percent to $10.91 at 10:15 a.m. in New York. The shares are still down more than 90 percent since an August 2015 peak.

(Bloomberg)

Concerns on weak car rental prices continue to hang over Hertz Global Holdings, Inc (NYSE:HTZ) (HTZ-15.6%) as shares plunge to a new 52-week low. The company reported that prices in the U.S. fell 3% in Q1. Analysts say that they are feeling exposed by the lack of guidance from Hertz and uncertainty around residual values. The largest Hertz holders are Carl Icahn (35% stake), Gamco (7%), PAR Capital (7%) and Vanguard (6%) per Bloomberg data. Don’t expect that group to be totally quiet.

(Seeking Alpha)

Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) stock was down on Tuesday following news of an investment from private equity firm KKR. The investment into Pandora Media Inc from KKR will be for $150 million. As a result of this investment, Richard Sarnoff, KKR’s Head of Media & Communications Private Equity investing in the Americas, is joining P’s Board of Directors. The investment has KKR buying $150 million worth of new designated Series A convertible preferred shares from Pandora Media Inc. It includes a dividend of 7.5% in cash or 8% if paid in kind, with P getting to chose which way to pay.

(Investor Place)

Endo International plc – Ordinary Shares (NASDAQ:ENDP) reported a higher-than-expected quarterly adjusted profit, driven by strong demand for its newly launched generic drugs, sending its shares up more than 16 percent. The strong results, particularly in the generics business, allayed investor concerns amid intense political and regulatory scrutiny into the drugmaker for suspected price collusion. Endo, along with many of its peers, is being investigated by U.S. federal regulators for price-fixing of generic drugs. The company warned in November of increasing pressure on its generics business in 2017. The unit accounted for more than half of the company’s revenue in 2016.

(Reuters)

Plug Power Inc (NASDAQ:PLUG) shares fell 10% on Tuesday after the firm psted a loss almost twixce as large as analysts expected., which last month saw its shares jump handsomely on a partnership agreement with Amazon, said on Tuesday that it lost 13 cents a share on $15.2 million revenue, while analysts had expected it to lose just 7 cents a share, and revenue of $24.9 million. The company, which last month saw its shares jump handsomely on a partnership agreement with Amazon, said on Tuesday that it lost 13 cents a share on $15.2 million revenue, while analysts had expected it to lose just 7 cents a share, and revenue of $24.9 million.

(TheStreet)

Investors and Traders continue to monitor technical levels of shares of Manitowoc Company Inc (NYSE:MTW). A frequently used tool among technical stock analysts is the moving average. Moving averages are considered to be lagging indicators that simply take the average price of a stock over a certain period of time. Moving averages can be very helpful for identifying peaks and troughs. They may also be used to assist the trader figure out proper support and resistance levels for the stock. Currently, the 200-day MA is sitting at 5.49, and the 50-day is 5.85.

(Rives Journal)

Frontier Communications Corp (NASDAQ:FTR) is off 6.5% after the Sohn Conference yesterday featured it as a pick, but not in a positive light. Josh Resnick of Jericho Capital made the company his short pick, foretelling a bankruptcy ahead as the company is pinched by increasing competition and the debt it took on from acquiring wireline operations from Verizon. He’s been short for years, he says — and in just over two years, the stock has gone from over $8 to $1.43 today. The company’s dealing with “monstrous” debt of about $18B, and net debt to EBITDA is headed to a multiple of six next year, from four now. Next up, he predicts: eliminating the dividend and then breaking covenants.

(Seeking Alpha)

Shares of Meet Group Inc (NASDAQ:MEET) MEET 15.85% plunged more than 12 percent on Wednesday in reaction to the company’s first quarter report and an outlook that analysts at Loop Capital Markets described as conservative. Loop Capital’s Blake Harper maintains a Buy rating on Meet Group’s stock with an unchanged $9 price target. The analyst’s bullish stance stems from the company’s release of its new in-app live-streaming video feature could prove to be a catalyst for future user growth, not to mention the potential for revenue growth.

(Benzinga)

Investors may be tracking fundamental and technical data for Nxstage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM). The company has a current Value Composite Score of 76. Using a scale from 0 to 100, a lower score would represent an undervalued company and a higher score would indicate an expensive or overvalued company.  This ranking was developed by James O’Shaughnessy using six different valuation ratios including price to book value, price to sales, EBITDA to EV, price to cash flow, price to earnings, and shareholder yield. Shifting the focus to some ROIC (Return on Invested Capital) numbers, Nxstage Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ:NXTM)’s ROIC is -0.02532. The ROIC 5 year average is -0.115026 and the ROIC Quality ratio is 1.773542. ROIC is a profitability ratio that measures the return that an investment generates for those providing capital.

(Providence Standard)

AmTrust Financial Services Inc (NASDAQ:AFSI) Shares Tumble on Earnings Miss. Shares of AmTrust Financial Services fell sharply to their lowest level in more than four years, after the company fell far short of Wall Street estimates for its first-quarter earnings.

(Fox Business)

Vale SA (ADR) (NYSE:VALE) gained 2.15% to $8.31 in the current trading session. The company’s price range for the trading day is $3.85 to $11.70. The company’s market capitalization is $42.83 billion with the total outstanding shares of 3.19 million. The stock has dropped -26.72% from its peak and the consensus price target for the stock is $10.37 a share. Vale SA (ADR) (NYSE:VALE) shares has displayed a low EPS growth of -4.90% in last 5 years. Its share price has grown -12.10% in three months and is down -6.34% for the last five trades. The average analysts gave this company a mean recommendation of 2.60.

(WallStreetNews24)

Nevro Corp. (NYSE:NVRO) stock is experiencing unusual volume during today’s trading.  While the stock price moved along with the volume change, shares are touching $77.77.  The day’s total volume of 3843517 this morning is in contrast from the three-month daily average of 396.76K.  When we divide the current volume by the three-month average volume, we get a relative volume of 17.25. Why is this important? Trading volume is a hugely important consideration for any investor.  By watching how many shares are trading hands and looking for any changes in that activity, trading opportunities can be spotted along with a deeper understanding of the reliability of other indicators on the stock.

(The Hiram Herald)